The next day Lumine walked with me to school. It was under the pretext of "its what friends do" but that was just a lie. She was my disciplining mother making sure I don't get into trouble.
Still though. With what happened yesterday I'm glad it's only limited to this. When she saw my wound it wasn't fear but amazement. With traditional medicine and magic healing, scar tissue was impossible to erase but with my aspect it was.
"Cayde. You remember what I told you yesterday right?"
after Lumine left she told me how the Harbinger society is doing a manhunt now for Incursik and she's being used as a spy to try and figure out where he is from me even though she knows I am him!"
"Yeah, yeah don't worry. I won't talk to any old men that approach me randomly little light."
We sat down in our morning classroom next to each other. It felt awkward as neither was talking. I contemplated asking Lumine about the falling gods cult as it's likely her organization knows something.
But then again I don't know how powerful the cult is and if they have spies inside the school. The walls might have ears and if I draw their attention I don't know how much trouble I'll be pulling my way.
I guess the black market is the only choice to get information then. Been a while since I actually went to one. The last time I went I had my Citin Rias ID forged.
The bell rang and my thoughts continued eventually leading me to the conclusion that since the Harbingers want something from it's also likely the cult does as well "dammit! I should have asked Lumine what it is they wanted!"
My outburst filled my empty auditorium with echoes shocking Seer as she stood in the center of the room "oh! Seer, what are you doing here? Our lesson doesn't start for another two hours." I tried to play off the awkwardness I set up and it seemed to work seeing Seer giggle.
"I came by because I have something to tell you..." Seer's face was sad and unwilling. She's leaving in a week so it makes sense that she would be sorry to leave after making friends here.
"I'm all ears." As I faced her the three beasts jumped out of my back to get comfy
"Because of some family matters back home I'm having to leave earlier than planned."
My face sunk slightly as she said this. She was a bright and intelligent girl but she was also quite emotional when it came to her interests despite the expressionless wall she had built up to ward off most kids. "I see. Is there anything I can do to give you a good farewell?"
"...A hug."
My face displayed my surprise and I could feel Thorn's envy as he's been crushing on Seer for a while now "uh it's a Uhm." I felt like a flashbang went off in my face as my words jumbled together "did you say a hug or did I mishear you?"
Seer's face stayed determined as she extended her arms out. She had already set her mind on this, she awkwardly walked up to me and held me in her arms as she gripped the back of my shirt tightly.
She was almost my height so it felt weird as she rested her chin on my collar bone. If I were in my last life I would have probably questioned why she was doing this and tried to understand her.
But as she sniffled I felt a few tears cry onto my shoulder and I understood. She had likely lost someone close to her and wanted to embrace someone's warmth to ease herself. Feeling sorry I put my arms around her and tightened our hug stroking her azure hair.
Her floral hair smelled like peaches as it covered my face. Her quiet sniffling continued for a few minutes and we stayed hugging during that time.
I wanted to ask but I know in a situation like this it's best to wait for her to tell you first.
"Thank you. I needed that." Seer finally released her grip on my shirt and took several steps out of my arms. Her pink pupils now seemed to sparkle from her red tear-filled eyes "if we ever meet again. I hope we will remember each other."
"Take care, Seer. Thorn is going to miss you."
Seer looked at the little dragon with a smile "I'll be missing him too." Seer had returned to her usual defined manner not shedding a hint of the girl who just cried on my shoulder.
As she reached the door an adult man with dark navy hair opened the door awaiting Seer. He said something to her that I couldn't hear but judging by the snarl on his face as Seer walked past him they didn't have a good relationship.
My eyes stayed glued to the man trying to get any piece of information I could from him but no. Nothing was special about him and he wore a plain suit making it impossible for me to tell where he was from.
The man's angry face then turned to me eying him. He looked me up and down with respect in his eyes before disappearing from sight.
"Should we go after them?" Ronik finally spoke from within me awakening from his hibernation.
Despite the sad departure of Seer, I was happy he was alright "no. If she wanted my help she would have said so. She knows when she needs help."
The wooden golem jumped out of my chest looking the same as always but felt growth in his aura. I then noticed a pale green light-emitting at the center of his violet core and kneeled to inspect it "how are you feeling? You did a number on yourself when you went berserk."
as I poked his core he responded "I feel as if I'm swimming in water master. When we were in Preirig I felt something calling to me as if it knew me. I thought it was just a fluctuating mana source and ignored it but when I reached out to it to attempt to save you..."
"You lost control." Ronik nodded and I stopped poking his core "could it of been the Lacuma you mentioned before? I remember you saying it turned you into a titan before but this time instead of water you were made of stone."
"There is a high possibility of that. But I have good news. Unlike last time I was able to retain certain images of what I did and remember the feeling of having such a large body. If we did periodical training with Lacuma my senses could eventually remain intact."
"That sounds like a plan-"
The doors to my classroom banged open and a group of upper-year boys and girls came in gossiping and laughing as they acted and looked so above everything
"Ooh, this place seems nice to have a little fun~"
"To think a baby was given this room."
"Hey is that the baby over there?"
They were a group of roughly 15 people. The girls had exorbitant amounts of makeup wearing expensive coats while the boys all looked to have muscles for brains.
One of them though looked familiar. It was the guy that hit on me at the inn thinking I was a girl. He looked the angriest out of all of them. Was he hoping to get revenge on incursik by beating me up? It's almost cute how simple his thought process is.
"Heya professor! My name's Liam. My friends and I were wondering if we could chill here. We got kicked out of our last hideout due to some... special reasons." As their leader spoke he rested his hand on my shoulder looking down at me. His friends were all surrounding me preparing to attack with blunt weapons.
"After all. It's the least you can do after your buddy the dragon slayer insulted me a few days ago."
I wonder if they forgot about my tames. Ronik had hidden with dark magic and Thorn had hidden on the ceiling lights after hiding Lupra under several beanbags. Why are you lots hiding?
"They have a beast repeller, princess. If we get close our hearts will begin to crack."
Do they have that? Don't those cost 50 million just to find them?
"Have you not seen their fashion sense? They have no idea if something expensive is good-looking! I'm surprised you didn't assume that in the beginning."
well... I guess it doesn't matter to me that much. I still have some pent-up aggression.
Liam POV:
As my hand pressed down on the brat's shoulder I was secretly instilling my predator aspect into him. Right now he should be frozen in fear thinking he's been surrounded by all kinds of horrible monsters!
"Let's see how he likes a bat to the face!" My friend came running up behind him but when his bat made contact with Cayde he vanished leaving an afterimage.
My hand felt droopy as well and when I went to look my hand was crushed and twisted around. I didn't even notice the pain of it being crushed "aahhh!!" The girls screamed when they saw my hand alongside me as the obliterating pain filled my arm "my hand! My hand!"
"Hahaha!"
We all turned to the source of laughter seeing Cayde sitting in the stands laughing at us. How was he able to move? My aspect should have made him piss his pants! Why am I the one in pain and not that loser?!
"I really must thank you. I lost a good opportunity to let loose recently and have been meaning to get exercise." Cayde vanished once more leaving behind purple sparks of electricity where he once sat.
"Boom!" The wind rushed past my cheek and I turned to see two of my buddies with their heads trapped inside the wall giving muffled screams for their lives. "M-monster!"
One of my men ran for the door but like a predator hunting its prey, Cayde didn't let him go. He appeared strangling his neck with bloodthirsty eyes yet an expressionless face. The man in his hands then passed out and slumped to the floor.
"I guess you'll do for a nice jog at best."
As he stared at the rest of us I realized just how much of an idiot I was to think he was a prey. I thought that so long as we had the beast repellents we'd be fine but... he was an even bigger monster than his tames!
He then appeared right in my face and held me in an iron grip before chucking me back into the wall. My consciousness had begun to blur and my vision darkened but in my last moments before passing out he pulled me up by the hair and looked me dead in the eye.
As I looked at him his image changed from a skinny boy into a vicious snake that was opening its maw to eat me whole. I was scared. "I am sorry! I am so sorry! I'll never bother you again! Just, please! Have mercy!"
"Why should I? From what I can see. You must have done this to so many others." His predator's gaze intensified as his aura spilled out not matching his calm voice "how many others begged for mercy just like you?"
My blurry eyes looked onto my girlfriend holding up her Unix church mark towards Cayde in fear, hoping that some sort of god would strike him down. However, it just shattered with a snap of his fingers "you want a god to save you? Well... none. Are. Coming."
My vision finally turned black and I had passed out.
I woke up gasping to see Cayde casually teaching a class seeing no damage from our previous bout with him.
"Teacher! What about the elemental irregularities in the crystal? Wouldn't that cause an explosion?"
"Ordinarily yes If you just unload all your mana into it, like this." He held a multicolored crystal in his hand and surged mana into it and it began to shake violently in his hand waiting to explode
"but then you need to drain it out in key points or with a rune or a special compound called bang powder to suppress it." He sprinkled a cloud of grey dust onto it and the violent crystal stopped shaking, audibly impressing the crowd.
I was impressed as well but I was still trying to make sense of the situation. The last thing I remember was my hand becoming boneless and seeing a swirling black snake and being eaten along with my mates.
My head turned violently and I saw all the girls and the boys asleep on the seats down the aisle.
"Now, if you want to restart the reaction you just do this!" Cayde tore the crystal in half and fearful gazes locked onto the crystal as Cayde lobbed both halves into the air.
They both exploded shooting out several sharp-ended crystals around the room with one exceedingly sharp and long shard piercing right next to my left hand that was back to normal.
My shaky gaze then locked with Cayde's eyes where he gave a subtle wink full of satisfaction making me get a glimpse of that petrifying snake again.
Just what kind of terror unleashed you unto the world!
Cayden Barbaten POV:
The bell rang waking up all my new friends which were quickly hurried out by my dearest Liam with a terrified expression on his face when he looked at me.
My students thanked me for the lesson and began sharing notes as they left for lunch. Arthur was the only one staying sat looking at me with disapproval
<what did you do to those kids!?>
My ears rang from the angry mental message. Arthur had been focusing on his physical training during the past weeks but it looks like he didn't forget his magic either.
"I gave them a little scare nothing more. Do you think I would kill a boy who doesn't even have a beard growing yet?"
The door slammed shut leaving Arthur and me in a standoff as we observed each other for the slightest hint of hostility
"You weren't the kind of person to put teenagers in a nightmare of that caliber before. Who is making you seem more like a demon than a human?"
[the ink of curses feels offense]
[the ink of curses demands repercussions!]
"All I did was put them in a dreamscape. Whatever they saw was made by themselves." Arthur's gaze was strong not believing my words as I held my innocent gaze.
"Then explain what the pink-eyed snake was." I stiffened at his words, how does he know about incursik? "If you are innocent as you say. Then tell me what the snake coiled around you is."
Of course, this jerk has a soul-sight ability.
[the ink of curses reevaluates the regressor's threat level]
I gazed at the floating screen for a second before I replied. It was a simple answer I had come up with but it would also satisfy Arthur's curiosity "it's me. But I still didn't do a thing personally."
Arthur's gaze was annoyed from my provocation. I took a gamble and seeing his reaction my guess was right. This bastard has an artifact that can discern lies on him. We both wanted nothing to do with each other but we both have things the other wants.
He wanted to use my magic to strengthen himself while I wanted the knowledge of the future he had. The only problem was that this was a battle of attrition. If the other gave them too much power they'd no longer have the power to negotiate.
"Cayde, are you coming to lunch?"
Both our heads jerked to the doorway where we saw Lumine. It's annoying dealing with Arthur so this was a heaven-sent chance to flea
"I'm coming. Just thinking about tomorrow's lesson."
When I reached Lumine's side she leaned into my ear to whisper "I didn't know he was in your class. Could you tell him to stop staring so weirdly at random people?" Hearing Lumine's words I turned around to see Arthurs face.
It was fear mixed in with a desperate hope hidden beneath a false front of coldness. If Dendra hadn't taught me to read people's expressions I would have thought he was just dissociating.
I put my hand around Lumine's shoulder and pulled her away "he's leaving next week so it doesn't matter. I doubt he'd listen to me anyway."